i started stretching just over 2 years now starting from a 16g (already had ears pierced by a gun when i was a kid) and now i got to a 00g. yes its a long time to to stretch but i was taking my time and never really had a goal to where i wanted to get to. i pretty much stretched every month or 2 i guess

i recently stretched from a 9mm tunnel to a 00g double flare tunnel (also went from 6mm to 7mm to 8mm prior) it seems to go in fine with out any pain or resistance but after the first day my ear had got swollen and sort of tingled a bit. i unscrewed the back of the tunnel and felt a bit of blood on my finger. now im not sure if its a blow out or i've teared the inside of the ear. but i took the 00g tunnel out and cleaned the ear in salt water and plenty of oil. its been 4 days now since it happened the swelling has gone down now, the ear is still a little tender but now im worried that i will never get a tunnel in my ear without starting over again...i wanna go back to a 0g anyway so i guess my question is do i just wait for it to heal properly and then a 0g would be fine to go back to or start over again? have i messed up by not putting the smaller tunnel in while is healing?